. She proposed to her a
most unworthy match, and, when this, as it was intended it should be,
was rejected, offered objections to all which were proposed by Mary.

At length, the suggestions of a powerful party seconding his own
ambitious wishes, Henry Darnley entered the lists to obtain her favor.
He was possessed of every external accomplishment, being remarkably
tall, handsome, agreeable, and "well instructed in all comely
exercises." His mother, "a very wise and discreet matron," Rizzio, and
others, familiar with the queen's tastes, instructed him in the best
methods of being agreeable to her. He affected a great degree of
refinement, and a fondness for music and poetry. The queen, deceived
and captivated, made choice of him for her husband--a choice which at
the time seemed most proper and eligible; for he was a Protestant, and
next heir, after herself, to the English throne. They were married in
1565. For a short time Mary thought herself happy. In the first
effusions of her passion, she lavished upon her husband every mark of
love, and of distinction, even to conferring upon him the title of
king of Scotland. But her tenderness and attentions were all thrown
away, and, instead of respect and gratitude, she met with brutality
and insolence. Violent, fickle, insolent, ungrateful, and addicted to
the lowest pleasures, he was incapable of all true sentiments of love
and tenderness. Love, for a time, blinded Mary's reason, and she made
excuses for his faults; but, as his true temper and character became
more known to her, she treated him with more reserve, and refused some
of his unreasonable demands. Irritated, Darnley sought for some one in
the confidence of the queen upon whom he might wreak his vengeance.

There was at the court a young Italian, named Rizzio, who has already
been mentioned as forwarding Darnley's suit. He had come to Scotland
in the train of the ambassador of Savoy: the three pages, or
songsters, who used to sing trios before Mary, wanted a bass, and
Rizzio was appointed. Being not only a scientific musician, but a good
penman, well acquainted with French and Italian, supple and
intelligent, Rizzio contrived to make himself generally useful, and
was, in 1564, appointed French secretary to the queen. Some designing
nobles, jealous of the favor enjoyed by this foreigner, and likewise
desirous of effecting a permanent breach between Darnley and the
queen, persuaded him that Rizzio was the author of